The delivery of medication directly to specific locations in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, for example to the small intestine and the colon, has the potential of improving the therapeutic properties in applying a wide range of drugs. For example drug release to specific locations can be used to effectively treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as colitis and crone disease.
Generally the therapeutic performance of drugs that are provided orally are degraded by enzymes in the stomach and by being diluted until reaching the desired location thus reducing their effectiveness.
Methods known in the art to deliver medication to the small intestine and colon after traversing the stomach suggest use of microspheres and slow release polymers that rely on physiological attributes of the gastrointestinal tract such as pH changes from the stomach to the small intestine, bacteria presence in the colon vs. the small intestine, time dependent release and pressure dependent release. These methods have been tested with various degree of success but none of these methods has proved to be a reliable and repetitive method for delivering drugs to the small intestine or colon and ensuring that the drug is indeed released in the small intestine or colon.
In recent years the use of an imaging capsule has been developed to examine the gastrointestinal tract for the existence of polyps and other clinically relevant features that may provide an indication regarding the potential of cancer. This is performed by swallowing an imaging capsule that is durable in the gastrointestinal tract so that the imaging capsule can travel through the gastrointestinal tract and view a patient's situation from within at desired locations. In a typical case the trip can take between 24-48 hours after, after which the imaging capsule exits in the patient's feces. Typically the patient swallows a contrast agent to enhance the imaging ability of the imaging capsule. Then the patient swallows the imaging capsule to examine the gastrointestinal tract while flowing through the contrast agent. The imaging capsule typically includes a radiation source, for example including a radioisotope that emits X-rays and/or Gamma rays. The radiation typically may be collimated to allow it to be controllably directed toward a specific area during the imaging process. In an exemplary case the imaging capsule is designed to measure X-Ray fluorescence and/or Compton back-scattering and transmit the measurements (e.g. count rate, particle energy) to an external analysis device, for example a transceiver worn by the patient and/or a computer or other dedicated instruments.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,787,926 dated Aug. 31, 2010 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,037,219 dated May 19, 2015 both by the current applicant, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe details related to the manufacture and use of such an imaging capsule.
Optionally, an imaging capsule with or without imaging ability can be used to traverse the gastrointestinal tract and reach specific locations. If the capsule is designed to identify its position and to release medication at the specific location then it can be used for delivering medication.